Chapter 2

"C'mon honey, let's get you warm and dry."

Amber talked softly and gently to the shivering man in her arms, running her hands through his hair full of tangles. It was difficult, to push away her anger, not towards Lex, but towards the man that had done this to her friend. She never had been the bests of pals with the sheriff, but they had come to some sort of peace offer. Lex had never let her in, always pushing her away, trying to distract her with his bad-ass attitude and blunt remarks. But when she found out he couldn't read and write, she knew there was more to it, and that deep down he was just an insecure boy.

Zandra had managed to capture his heart, but never his soul, that gift was for Tai-San, who knew him better then anybody. And they were both gone…..Zandra had been killed, while his former wife Tai-San was kidnapped by the Techno's. Now there was Siva, former Techno herself, who seemed to know this mysterious man a little more as well. Though she had always considered Lex a true ….."

The soft whimper coming from the subject of her thoughts made her blink, though relieved to get some sort of reaction from him. His stillness was more scary then anything. She was afraid of what was going to come though. How was he going to handle this?

"I know, you're freezing. I'll take you to your room now, okay?"

There was a soft nod with his head, almost not noticeable if she hadn't been paying attention. It seemed like that was the only word Lex was going to say for now, and she couldn't blame him either. There was nothing left to say now that they both knew what happened. She didn't want to hear the gruesome details, only who had done it so that the guy would be punished. Nobody was going to get away with this.

The large towel was wrapped around the shivering form tightly, as she lead him up the stairs, glad the rest of the tribe were in the kitchen, where Pride was telling them the bad news. It didn't take long before Siva came running towards them, a worried look on her face, tears in her eyes when she took in the state of her boyfriend. Lex flinched when Siva touched him, before realising it was Siva and not the one who attacked him.

"Lex! Oh god, I'm here baby, nobody's going to hurt you anymore."

Amber shared a look with the sister of Ebony, letting go of Lex so she could go back to the kitchen. He was in good hands now, Siva knew how to handle somebody injured and more importantly, she knew how to handle Lex. Watching as the couple slowly walked to their bedroom, she bit her bottom lip, her eyes flashing. With a sigh she walked to the kitchen, hearing the outraged reactions all the way in the hall. They didn't even notice her coming in, so absorbed they were in what had happened.

"Patch, can you check him over?"

The Mallrats stilled when Amber said that loud enough for the boy in question to hear. The newest addition to the tribe nodded, quickly standing up and left quietly. They didn't have a docter, but he was as close as they had to it. He was running the hospital after all.

"How is he?" Salene asked, the one question they all wanted to know. The redhead was shocked when Pride came telling the news Lex had been attacked in a way not even he deserved. Now more then ever she hated being City leader, even if she did it to spy on the Techno's. She had pulled Mouse close to her, even though the young girl didn't even knew what rape was.

"I don't know, he's really quiet. He's so unlike himself that it scares me. It's like looking at a broken toy and you wonder if it ever can be fixed again.."

She ran a hand through her Zulu knots as she settled on the chair Patch had been sitting on, taking Bray from Trudy, hugging her baby close to her. Everybody was quiet, even the little kids, all thinking their own things. Somebody had finally done it, somebody managed to break the proudest person they all knew and they were all thinking the same thing; could that break be mended?